The Desk on Your Right
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: For some, he was a person you could easily forget. For others, it was impossible not to remember him.


**A/N: **The OCs are random characters; their only purpose are to be classmates that aren't particularly close to Kouichi.

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**The Desk on Your Right**

Satou kicked lightly at the table legs, ignoring the fact that he was not perched upon his own desk but rather that of another student's. The student hadn't arrived yet though – and he couldn't seem to remember the name of the kid that sat there normally – but as Teru was sitting on the desk in front, it seemed only logical to take the empty space in order to chat before the class started. It was, after all, the only chair available in the small radius; on their other side were two girls, both staring quite sourly at him.

'What?' he snapped at them.

The girls turned away, whispering quietly. One looked rather miserable, upon closer look. The other was trying to cheer her up.

Satou couldn't remember their names either. That was the problem with the elective classes; half the people weren't from his homeroom and it was a tough job trying to remember faces and names with the larger classes. A few weeks into the new semester, and he still didn't know a good deal of his classmates. Just the ones who spoke out…like Teru who was always causing trouble, or Junko who almost always got caught reading fashion magazines under her desk. Or little Sho who came into class four days out of six with a black eye.

He knew for sure the person who usually sat at the desk he was now occupying was not one of those people, even if only Teru was present. He also knew it wasn't someone he shared other classes with…or he was fairly sure anyway. Not that he really cared _who_ normally occupied the desk; they would well speak up and say once they arrived.

As long as they didn't swipe _his_ seat, it was all cool.

'Oi, that's not your seat.'

Satou frowned at the tone; it certainly didn't sound as the words implied, although they did seem rather annoyed.

'If it's not your seat, Kanashita, why do you care?'

Kanashita Akira frowned. 'Just because Kimura-kun's late for once, it doesn't mean you should take his seat. I don't think anyone will be too keen if their desk collapses because someone else was kicking it too hard.

For a moment, Satou drew a blank at the name, and his classmate noticed.

'How could your forget?' Akira said incredulously. 'He's the only one that's ever gotten full marks with Sensei's quizzes.'

Satou shrugged. He never really payed attention to that kind of stuff. 'I think I can safely say he's not the bragging type.' He definitely would have remembered _that._

'Of course not.' Akira shrugged as well, apparently giving his peer up as a lost cause. 'He's pretty quiet, although nice enough. I wouldn't think he's the kind of person you'd forget though; he's just one of those people that somehow stand out without doing anything.'

'Apparently not enough for me to remember.' He was a little intrigued though; it was unlike Akira, who was rather athletic and involved, to remember someone who was studious…although they were in close proximity to one another as far as the seating arrangement went. Still, Satou couldn't care less about the quiet boy who sat to _his_ right…

The teacher suddenly came in, a reprimand the first thing on her lips and Satou hopped off the table and back to his seat.

Just before he could zone out though, he heard the teacher mention Kimura-kun's name, and he sat a little straighter.

'…won't be returning for a while.'

The miserable girl stuck up her hand. 'Do you know when he'll be back, Sensei?'

'His parents don't know when he'll be released from the hospital,' the Sensei replied.

'Parents?' somebody whispered. 'I thought they're divorced and not on speaking terms.'

Satou shook his head. The things people remembered about others. Although he was sure he would be reminded of Kimura-kun when the boy returned back to school…and then maybe he'll be able to match the name with a face for a few weeks.


End file.
